Pneumatic tires are required to be filled with air or another gas such as, for example, nitrogen in order to work properly. Generally, pneumatic tires fall into two categories: tubeless and tires having inner tubes. In either event, the tire itself is installed upon a metal rim which is usually aluminum or steel.
An initial amount of air or other gas placed into the tire will allow the bead of the tire to seat onto the rim. Air or another gas is then usually pumped into the tire via a valve stem that is connected to the rim. The valve stem provides a fluid connection with the interior of the tire to the air or other gas source.
Typically, a tool that is used to put gas into the tire is held by hand onto the valve stem. This can be awkward and may require a user to hold on to the valve stem while the tire is being inflated. While this may not only be inconvenient, it may also be difficult when tires such as truck tires are desired to be inflated within a tire cage. Tire cages are used in the event that a tire fails, the user is protected from flying debris of the tire.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus that allows a tool used for inflating a tire to be connected to the valve stem and allow the user to let go of the tool while maintaining its connection with the valve stem in order to be remote from the tire as it is being inflated. Further, it may also be desirable to allow the connection between the tool inflating the tire and the valve stem to be such that the tire maybe moved to a variety of orientations such as laying flat or laying on end or any other orientation without causing the valve stem and tool inflating the tire to be disconnected from each other.